Fla. Democrats outraise GOP incumbent rivals

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

MIAMI - In the second quarter of the year, five Florida Democratic Congressional candidates outraised the Republican incumbents they are seeking to oust, making them the largest number of Democratic House candidates to do so in any one state.

At least three of them used large personal loans to outspend their rivals, and the Republicans still have more campaign money overall. But Democrats say their increasing fundraising prowess combined with major voter drives - they registered 100,000 more voters than Republican did as of May - will give them the edge in November.

"These new finance numbers combined with the huge swing toward Democratic voter registration shows the enthusiasm and momentum Democrats are building throughout Florida," said state party spokesman Eric Jotkoff.

Republicans disagreed.

"Keeping in mind that the amount raised is only one type of support, if we are going to get into a debate with the Democrats over finances, we have to look at the whole picture," said Katie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Florida.

In South Florida, two challengers outraised U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his younger brother Mario without major personal loans. The Diaz-Balarts are facing their toughest elections ever against their respective rivals: Fellow Cuban-Americans Raul Martinez, former mayor of the heavily Republican and Cuban-American city of Hialeah, and Joe Garcia, former vice president for the Democratic strategy group NDN.

But Gordon noted that Lincoln Diaz-Balart has more than $1.7 million cash on hand, compared to Martinez, who has about $1 million. Mario Diaz-Balart has $1 million cash on hand, about $300,000 more than Garcia.

"We're going to raise the money needed to get our message across. We see enthusiasm from all sectors of the community wanting to contribute to the campaign, and that will continue to grow in the coming days," said Lincoln Diaz-Balart campaign manager Ana Carbonell.

Mario Diaz-Balart spokesman Carlos Curbelo credited Democratic House leaders Charlie Rangel and Nancy Pelosi with helping to boost fundraising for the challengers, who have been added to the party's list of top competitive races.

The Diaz-Balarts also benefited from top party leaders such as President Bush, who recently hosted a fundraiser for them in Florida.

Garcia said he was humbled by the support he has received.

"But we don't expect to outfundraise an opponent that takes thousands of dollars from big oil companies while families are struggling at the pump," he said, referring to support for his opponent from Exxon-Mobile.

The Democratic Party says 23 of its Congressional candidates nationwide have outraised their Republican incumbents, including in California, Maine, New Mexico and Texas. Only Nevada and Virginia also have multiple candidates, with two each in those states.